The Correlation Between Blood Lead Levels And Iron Deficiency Anaemia In Paediatric Populatio

Objective: To determine a correlation between blood lead levels and iron deficiency anemia among the primary school-aged kids of Pakistan. Study Design: Cross-sectional Analytical Study. Place and Duration of Study: Military Hospital Rawalpindi, Pakistan from Jan 2019 to Dec 2019. Methodology: Venous Blood samples were drawn for estimating Iron, Ferritin, Lead levels and otherhematological parameters as well. Anemia was further stratified into mild, moderate, and severe by correlating it with lead levels. Results: 300 cases were enrolled in with a mean age of 8.39±2.09 years. Two groups were formulated-e with Blood Lead Levels <10 μg/dl in 110(36.6%) and >10 μg/dl in 190(63.4%). The blood iron and ferritin levels were recorded lower (49.1±19.1 and 51.5 ± 24.5respectively) ((p-value <0.05), in cases with blood lead levels ≥10 μg/dl whereas mean values for iron and ferritin in group with blood lead levels <10 μg/dl were 61.02±21.31 and 78.61±24.68 respectively. The severity of anemia was proportionate with the blood levels of lead with 5(4.5%) and 40(21.1%) in <10 μg/dl and ≥10 μg/dl groups respectively (p-value <0.001). Conclusion: Lead poisoning is becoming a major cause of iron deficiency anemia and other hematological problems. Due to this recognition, we want to establish a protocol in our hospital for early detection of lead levels in case of iron deficiency and highlight this issue so that departmentsof Pakistan should implement effective reforms to combat this nutritional and environmental hazard.